EBay has been making a lot of changes of late—spinning off PayPal and selling its Enterprise arm—and now the online auction site is gearing up to get into the subscription-shipping game.
On Tuesday, the internet giant will introduce an Amazon Prime-like membership in Germany, offering free delivery within two days on many items, as well as free returns within 30 days of purchase, for less than 20 euro (or $22) per year.
Dubbed eBay Plus, the Wall Street Journal said the program has been in beta mode since May and thousands of sellers have already signed up. A company spokesperson revealed that participating sellers are required to dispatch goods same-day if purchased before 2 p.m. and in exchange they will receive better product placement and discounted fees.
Shipping woes have long been atop Ebay’s fix-it list. No word yet on whether the service will be rolled out to other key markets but if expanded to the U.S., it could give Amazon a run for its money.
Recent reports revealed that the e-commerce behemoth was considering a big change to its $99-per-year Prime program that would allow sellers to determine where they’re willing to ship goods within a two-day window to at no extra cost.
Walmart, meanwhile, is also taking aim at Amazon: The retailer launched a $50-per-year unlimited free-shipping service for online customers earlier this year.